Comparison of (the behaviour of) the heedless man who wastes his life and (only) begins to repent and ask pardon (of God) when he lies in extreme distress on his death-bed to the yearly mourning of the Shí‘ites of Aleppo at the Antioch Gate (of the city) during the ‘Áshúrá; and how a poet, who was a stranger, arrived (there) on his journey and asked what was the cause of these shrieks of mourning.
شاعر: رومی
وزن: فاعلاتن فاعلاتن فاعلن (رمل مسدس محذوف یا وزن مثنوی)
صنف: مثنوی
On the Day of ‘Áshúrá all the people of Aleppo gather at the Antioch Gate till nightfall,
Men and women, a great multitude, and keep up a constant lamentation for the (Holy) Family.
During the ‘Áshúrá the Shí‘ites wail and lament with tears and sobs on account of Karbalá.
They recount the oppressions and tribulations which the (Holy) Family suffered at the hands of Yazíd and Shimr.
They utter shrieks mingled with cries of woe and grief: the whole plain and desert is filled (with their cries).
A stranger, (who was) a poet, arrived from the road on the Day of ‘Áshúrá and heard that lamentation.
He left the city and resolved (to go) in that direction: he set out to investigate (the cause of) those shrill cries.
He went along, asking many questions in his search—“What is this sorrow? Whose death has occasioned this mourning?
It must be a great personage who has died: such a concourse is no small affair.
Inform me of his name and titles, for I am a stranger and ye belong to the town.
What is his name and profession and character? (Tell me) in order that I may compose an elegy on his gracious qualities.
I will make an elegy—for I am a poet—that I may carry away from here some provision and morsels of food.”
“Eh,” said one (of them), “are you mad? You are not a Shí‘ite, you are an enemy of the (Holy) Family.
Don't you know that the Day of ‘Áshúrá is (a day of) mourning for a single soul that is more excellent than a (whole) generation?
How should this anguish (tragedy) be lightly esteemed by the true believer? Love for the ear-ring is in proportion to love for the ear.
In the true believer's view the mourning for that pure spirit is more celebrated than a hundred Floods of Noah.”
